State Rep. Alicia Reece, a Democrat, is not happy with
what she sees as another attempt at voter suppression. Reece claims a
new billboard, which reads “Voter Fraud is a Felony,” is meant to
intimidate voters — particularly voters in low-income and black
neighborhoods. The company hosting the billboards says there are 30
billboards like it in Greater Cincinnati and the sponsor of the
billboards, who chose to remain anonymous, did not ask to target any
specific demographic.

The second presidential debate is tonight at 9 p.m. All
eyes are on President Barack Obama to deliver a better performance than
he did in the last debate against Mitt Romney. The media was quick to
jump on the post-debate bounce in polls Romney experienced a mere week
after the debate, but political scientists say debates typically don’t have much political significance
in the long term. Still, the debate will be a good opportunity for
Obama and Romney to flesh out their positions and show their abilities to reach out to the public. The full schedule of the remaining debates
can be found here. The agreed-upon rules to the debates were leaked
yesterday. One notable rule says the candidates may not ask each other
any direct questions during any of the debates. Both the Romney and Obama campaigns made a fuss about tonight's debate moderator possibly asking follow-up questions.

But the debate isn’t the only important presidential test
this week. While in Youngstown, Paul Ryan, Republican vice presidential
nominee, tried to show he can pass the dish washing test, but little did
he know that savvy media outlets were ready to call him out on his
dishonesty. Brian Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De
Paul Society, said Ryan was only at the group’s soup kitchen for the
picture and didn’t do much work. The visit apparently angered Antal, who
said his charity group is supposed to be nonpartisan.

The race for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat saw its first of
three debates yesterday. At the debate, Democratic incumbent Sherrod
Brown and Republican challenger Josh Mandel agreed on very little, and
they did not have many kind words for each other. Mandel criticized
Brown for the auto bailout, liberal economic policies and inability to
get a budget through the Senate. Brown criticized Mandel for alleged
cronyism in the state treasurer’s office, dishonesty on the campaign
trail and support for trickle-down economics. The next debate is in
Columbus on Thursday, and the two men will face off one last time in
Cincinnati on Oct. 25.

Ohio is still weighing options regarding a Medicaid
expansion. Critics of the expansion are worried the expansion would cost
the state too much money. However, previous research shows Medicaid
expansions can actually save states money by lowering the amount of
uncompensated care. Medicaid expansions in other states also notably
improved lives.

One analyst says Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble will see stronger growth in the future.

A controversial ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court is
sparking some local debate. The ruling said juveniles are not entitled
to an attorney during police interrogations preceding a charge or
initial appearance at juvenile court. Under state law, juveniles are
allowed to have attorneys during “proceedings,” and the Ohio Supreme
Court interpreted “proceedings” to mean “court proceedings.”

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced 6,665
new entities filed to do business in Ohio in September. The number is up
from September 2011, when 6,143 new entities filed to do business; but
it’s down from August 2012, when 7,341 entities asked to do business in
Ohio. The numbers show a steady economic recovery.

The Ohio Turnpike may get a few changes soon. A new Ohio
Department of Transportation (ODOT) study shows a few options for Gov.
John Kasich’s administration: lease the turnpike, give it over to ODOT
or leave it alone. If the turnpike is leased or handed over to ODOT,
tolls will likely rise to keep up with inflation and two maintenance facilities will shut down. However, the revenue generated could be used
for new transportation projects — a goal for the Kasich administration.
Kasich is set to make his decision in about a month.

Meanwhile unemployment in Cincinnati dropped to 7.5
percent in August, down from 8.2 percent in July. Unemployment in
Hamilton County dropped to 6.8 percent in August, down from 7.3 percent.
The Greater Cincinnati’s jobless rate for the month was 6.7 percent,
putting it below that of the state (7.2 percent) and the nation (8.1
percent).

Speaking of numbers, a new poll released today shows Obama
leading Romney in Ohio – the third such poll in the last four days. The
Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times Swing State Poll shows
Obama leading Romney 53 to 43 percent in Ohio, and by similar large
margins in the battlegrounds of Florida and Pennsylvania.

The typically media-shy Republican Ohio Treasurer and
Senate candidate Josh Mandel proposed three new rules for members of the
U.S. Congress in a rare Tuesday news conference. He said he wants
members of Congress to lose their pensions if they became lobbyists, be
limited to 12 years in the House and Senate and not be paid if they
failed to pass a budget. Mandel says his opponent, sitting Democratic
Sen. Sherrod Brown, broke his promise to voters that he would only serve
12 years in Congress. Mandel himself promised to fill his entire term
as state treasurer, but would leave halfway through if he wins the
Senate race.

The governors of Ohio and Kentucky continue to move toward
jointly supporting a financing study for a replacement of the
functionally-obsolete Brent Spence Bridge, and both governors favor a
bridge toll to fund construction. The Kentucky Legislature would have to
approve a measure to allow tolling on the bridge.

Forty percent of Hamilton County’s septic systems are
failing, and homeowners and utilities are arguing over who should foot
the $242 million bill. The Enquirer has an analysis of the ongoing
battle.

The Enquirer is still doing all it can to keep the
Lacheys relevant instead of letting them die off like all bad 90s
trends like Furby and Hammer pants. The paper blogged that Lachey
finished in the bottom three in the first week of the new Dancing with the
Stars: All Stars.

Speaking of those replacement NFL refs, apparently some of
them were fired by the Lingerie Football League for incompetence. Yes,
there are totally unrelated pictures of women playing football.

With just five days left until the primary election, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is touring the state in her converted school bus, “the Courage Express,” for some last-minute campaigning in her U.S. Senate bid.

Brunner made local stops at Take the Cake in Northside, Keller’s IGA in Clifton and Fountain Square downtown.

Judge approves in-person early voting for weekend and Monday before Election Day

In a statement on Aug. 22, Secretary of State Jon Husted
said of early voting, “The rules are set and are not going to change.”
Husted made the comment in an attempt to end discussion over in-person
early voting hours.

Unfortunately for Husted, a federal judge disagrees. In a
ruling today, Judge Peter Economus said in-person early voting must be
restored for all registered voters to include the Saturday, Sunday and
Monday before Election Day. Husted will now work with county boards of
elections around the state to decide the voting hours for those days.

The ruling is the outcome of President Barack Obama’s
campaign and the Ohio Democratic Party suing Husted to extend in-person
early voting. Before the ruling, only military personnel and their
families were allowed to vote, which the Obama team and Democrats argued
was unfair to non-military voters. With the ruling, everyone —
including military personnel and their families — will be able to vote during the three days before election day.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has vowed to appeal the ruling, but, for now, the news comes as a victory to Obama and Democrats in the ongoing struggle over early voting hours.

Recently, Republicans have tried to block any statewide expansion of
in-person early voting, citing costs and racial politics. Doug Preisse,
chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party and close adviser to
Gov. John Kasich, previously wrote to The Columbus Dispatch in an email,
“I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process
to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout
machine.”

Republicans defended Preisse’s racially insensitive comment by calling it
“background” and saying it was supposed to be off the record. But those
defenses didn’t match Preisse’s defense of his own comment, and they didn’t
deny the substance of the comment. CityBeat covered the racial politics behind early voting in this week’s issue (“Republicans Admit Racial Politics,” issue of Aug. 29).

Mike Wilson, the Republican candidate for state
representative in Ohio’s 28th district, also voiced some concerns about
the lawsuit. He said extending in-person early
voting for everyone could make lines too long for military personnel and
their families.

The Hamilton County Board of Elections on Monday split
along party lines over whether the board should move its offices and
early voting from downtown, Cincinnati’s urban core, to Mount Airy, where only
one bus line runs.

The two Democrats on the board dispute the move. They claim the move would make voting less accessible to voters who rely on
public transportation to make it to the ballot box.

Republicans on the board argue the move would make voting
more accessible to suburban voters and provide free parking that’s
scarcely available at the current downtown offices. They call the move
“good government” because it would consolidate some county services at
Mount Airy, where county officials plan to build a crime lab as long as
the Board of Elections moves with the coroner’s office and provides the
critical mass necessary to financially justify renovations at a former
hospital.

Republicans cautioned their proposed motion would keep
early voting downtown through the 2016 presidential elections. After that, the
board’s offices would move, along with early voting.

Ohio’s secretary of state — Republican Jon Husted — normally
breaks tie votes on county boards of elections. The secretary of state’s office claims Husted will remain undecided on the issue until he reviews documents from the Board of Elections explaining both sides of the tie vote. But spokesperson Matt McClellan says Husted would like to see the Board of Elections reach a compromise before he is forced to intervene.

The board’s vote followed a contentious back-and-forth
between public speakers and board members regarding the looming
decision. Most speakers spoke against the move and labeled it “voter
suppression.” Some dissenters supported the move for its fiscal
prudence.

Alex Triantafilou, a Republican on the Board of Elections,
accused Democrats of “playing politics” with the move. He claims
Democrats just want to keep early voting in a Democratic stronghold like
downtown.

Democrats Tim Burke and Caleb Faux countered that, along the same lines, the Mount Airy facility would benefit Republicans by making early voting more accessible to Republican-leaning suburban voters and less accessible to Democrat-leaning urban voters.

State Rep. Alicia Reece, a local Democrat who spoke at the meeting, rebuked accusations of partisan politics and reiterated an argument she made to reporters on Thursday.

“The reality is the Board of Elections at its current
location has declared both Democrat and Republican winners of
elections,” Reece previously said. “I think the focus is to just make
sure that we have a facility that everyone can have access to, whether
you’re driving or whether you’re on the bus.”

But Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann, a Republican, told CityBeat
the offer is not enough to satisfy the county’s occupancy needs at Mount Airy, even if the city
moves some police services, such as SWAT operations, to the Mount Airy
facility to help fill out the 500,000 square foot building.

“Without the Board of Elections coming with the crime lab,
that’s not enough occupancy,” Hartmann said. “There would be some good
potential co-location opportunities with the city (at the Mount Airy
facility), but not enough to take up 400,000 square feet.”

County officials expect the crime lab to take up 100,000
square feet at the Mount Airy facility, and the Board of Elections would
occupy another 100,000 square feet. So the county needs to fill 300,000
square feet to fully utilize the Mount Airy facility, even if the Board
of Elections moves.

This story was updated with comments from the secretary of state’s office.

U.S. Supreme Court could be next stop for early voting during final three days before election

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted will appeal a ruling that expanded voting during the three days before Election Day to all Ohioans. If the appeal is approved, the early voting issue will be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Friday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with President Barack Obama's campaign and the Democrats when it said voting during the weekend and Monday before Election Day must include all Ohioans. Previously, the three early voting days only applied to military personnel and their families.

The appeals court ruling passed the final decision behind the
three voting days to the county boards of elections and Husted.
Unless Husted enacts uniform rules like he has done in the past,
boards of elections will decide whether voting will still take place on
those days. If there is a tie vote, Husted will be the tie breaker.

In a statement, Husted hinted at setting uniform rules if the appeal is unsuccessful: “Since some boards of elections have already started to take action on
hours of operation for the three days before Election Day, I am going
to take time to consult with all 88 counties before crafting a
directive to set uniform hours should the state not be successful upon
appeal.”

In the past, Husted argued voting procedures should
ideally be “locked down” months before Election Day. But with this appeal to
the Supreme Court, the rules will remain up in the air.

Ohio Republicans have repeatedly blocked any expansion of
in-person early voting, citing racial politics and costs. Doug Preisse,
close adviser to Gov. John Kasich and chairman of the Franklin County
Republican Party, said in an email to The Columbus Dispatch on Aug. 19, “I
guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to
accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine.”
Black voters tend to favor Democrats by big margins.

We Are Ohio, the organization that helped repeal SB5 last year, says it will team up with
nonpartisan Ohio Voters First to help put on the November ballot a
constitutional amendment that would change the way legislative and
congressional districts are drawn. The effort is in response to
Republican-drawn redistricting maps that attempted to create 12
solidly GOP districts and four Democratic districts. The proposal
calls for a nonpartisan commission to redraw legislative and
congressional boundaries rather than letting politicians and anyone
who gives them money do it.

The University of Cincinnati has
released a study showing a considerable economic impact from
construction of The Banks. Between construction contractors, new
residents and visitors to the area's restaurants, the development reportedly will impact the local economy by more than $90 million a year.

The parent company of Cincinnati's
Horseshoe Casino will host two informational sessions this week to
offer local vendors information on how to bid on contracts for
supplies and services the entertainment complex will need. The first
takes place 6 p.m. tonight at Bell Events Centre near the casino site at 444 Reading Road,
and the second is 9 a.m. Thursday at Great American Ball Park.

The Enquirer on Tuesday reported that
the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University have agreed to
move the Crosstown Shootout to U.S. Bank Arena for two years in
response to last year's massive brawl. NBC Sports today reported that
the presents of both universities issued a press release in response,
stating that no final decision had been made.

The University of Cincinnati and
Xavier University were both surprised to see today’s announcement
concerning the future of the Crosstown Shootout. While both schools
are committed to the future of the Crosstown rivalry, specific
discussions are ongoing and no details have been finalized. We look
forward to sharing our plans with the community at an appropriate
time in the coming weeks.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your
nearest polling booth here. More than 1.1 million Ohioans have requested
absentee ballots.

Secretary of State Jon Husted appealed an early voting
ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling by the appeals court said
all Ohioans must be allowed to vote on the three days before Election
Day. Previously, only military personnel and their families were
allowed. The appeals court ruling also passed the final decision on
whether voting should be allowed during those three days to the county
boards of elections and Husted.

Husted also sent out a directive Thursday telling board of
elections employees that they can only notify absentee voters about
mistakes on their ballots through first-class mail. Previously, email
and phone notifications were allowed.

Rev. Jesse Jackson was in Cincinnati yesterday in part to
criticize Husted and other Republicans. Jackson accused Ohio’s state
government of engaging in voter suppression. The reverend’s claims have
some merit. In moments of perhaps too much honesty, Republican aides
have cited racial politics as a reason for opposing the expansion of
in-person early voting. In an email to The Columbus Dispatch published
on Aug. 19, Doug Preisse, close adviser to Gov. John Kasich, said, “I
guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to
accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine.”

In a new video, Josh Mandel, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate,
dodged answering a question about whether he would support
the auto bailout for five straight minutes.

More preliminary data for Ohio’s schools and school
districts will be released next week. The data gives insight
into how Ohio’s education system is holding up.

The Ohio Board of Education also promised to pursue the
state auditor’s recommendation of making the student information
database in-house, which Auditor Dave Yost says could save $430,000 a
year.

“We are holding our own feet to the fire,” promised Bob
McDonald, CEO of Procter & Gamble, at P&G’s annual meeting. The
Cincinnati-based company had a rocky year, and the harsh questions
at the meeting reflected the troubles. McDonald promises he has a plan
for growth.

President Barack Obama and opponent Mitt Romney were in
Ohio yesterday. Obama drew significant crowds at Ohio State University,
while Romney drew a new chant of “four more weeks.” Ohio is considered a must-win for Romney, but Obama is currently up by 0.8 points in the state.

A new report from the left-leaning Urban Institute says
Obamacare will lower health care costs for small businesses and have
minimal impact on large businesses. But another report says Obamacare
will raise costs for mid-size businesses.

A new ad shows that the presidential election has probably jumped the shark:

Today is the last day to register to vote, and in-person
early voting is underway. Register to vote and vote at your nearest
board of election, which can be located here.

Hamilton County commissioners agree on not raising the
sales tax. That effectively rules out two of three plans laid out by the
county administrator. The one plan left would not cut public safety, but it would make cuts to the courts, criminal justice system, administrative departments, commissioner departments and the board of elections.

It seems other news outlets are now scrutinizing online
schools. A Reuters report pointed out state officials — including some
in Ohio — are not happy with results from e-schools. Even Barbara
Dreyer, CEO of the e-school company Connections Academy, told Reuters
she’s disappointed with performance at e-schools. A CityBeatlook into e-schools in August found similarly disappointing results.

Ohio Democrats are asking federal and state officials for
an investigation into Murray Energy, the Ohio-based coal company that
has been accused of coercing employees into contributing to Republican
political campaigns. In the statement calling for action, Ohio
Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said, “Thanks to this report,
now we know why coal workers and miners have lent themselves to the
rallies, ads, and political contributions. They’ve been afraid.”

Councilman Chris Seelbach is following up on information
obtained during public safety meetings. The most consistent concerns
Seelbach heard were worries about loitering and young people breaking
curfew.

The state auditor says the Ohio Department of Education
(ODE) could save $430,000 a year if it moved its student information
database in-house. Current law prohibits ODE from having access to the
data for privacy reasons, but State Auditor Dave Yost says it’s
unnecessary and “wastes time and money.”

It seems Duke Energy is quickly integrating into its recent merger with Progress Energy. The company's information technology, nuclear and energy-supply departments are fully staffed and functional.

It might not feel like it sometimes, but parking in Cincinnati is still pretty cheap.

Scientific research is increasingly pointing to lead as an explanation for people’s crazy grandparents. Research indicates even small programs cleaning up lead contamination can have massive economic and education returns.

Kings Island is selling off pieces of the Son of Beast.
The troubled roller coaster was torn down after years of being shut
down.

Subpoenas will be issued to more than 2,200 poll workers and others to solicit testimony about advice they gave to voters in Hamilton County precincts being investigated in a contested judicial race.

Local Democratic Party leaders said the issuance of subpoenas is “aridiculously expensive and time-consuming proposition” that could be done more quickly and cheaply through other methods, but that process is being blocked by their Republican counterparts.